Salted potatoes in Syracuse are usually eaten as an appetizer, dipped in melted butter, or mixed with herbs and served as a side dish. The most interesting thing is that inside the potatoes are absolutely unsalted! So if you are confused by the salt crust, you can simply cut the potato in half and scrape the pulp with a teaspoon.
So what is special about this seemingly simple boiled potato?
Potatoes cooked in a strong saline solution have a texture and taste very similar to baked potatoes. It is tender and creamy.
The high concentration of the saline solution in which the potatoes are cooked increases the boiling point. And it turns out that the potatoes are cooked not at 100°C, but at 109°C. This increase in temperature gives the same effect of baked potatoes in taste. And the salt crust prevents the loss of vitamins and minerals.
Yes, America has its own Syracuse, as well as in Italy. After all, everyone knows that the United States has its own Moscow and St. Petersburg. Well, there’s Syracuse, too.
The modern city of Syracuse in New York State appeared in 1786 as a center of salt production. The surrounding area is rich in salt springs — just like the surroundings of ancient Syracuse. Because of this similarity, the name of the city appeared in 1820. Local salt springs satisfied the need of the whole country for salt until 1870. There were salt factories here, in the workshops of which local workers cooked these potatoes.
The fame of the simple dinner of the Syracuse salt workers was brought by their enterprising countryman John Heinerwadel, who began selling potatoes with salt, positioning it as a local delicacy. And now even in the supermarkets of the city of Syracuse, food packages are sold: potatoes+the right amount of salt for cooking the famous salted potatoes.